Snap CFO Vollero Exits, Replaced by Amazon Exec Stone

Snap’s chief financial officer Drew Vollero is scheduled to resign on May 15. He will be replaced by Amazon’s long time executive Tim Stone. This will be a major transition in the company that has been struggling to find a firm footing since it went public the previous year.

Snap shares climbed almost 2 percent during extended trading following the announcement of the transition.

Stone is a vice president of finance at Amazon. He has come fresh from Amazon’s Whole Foods takeover, as Amazon continues to expand its physical stores. Stone also is well versed in digital content and cloud service, which is considered a primary expense for Snap.

Vollero will chase after other opportunities, according to the company’s statement. However, he will still remain in the company until August 15, labeled as a “non-employee advisor” to ease the transition.

“I am deeply grateful for Drew and his many contributions to the growth of Snap,” said Snap Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel in a statement. “He has done an amazing job as Snap’s first CFO, building a strong team and helping to guide us through our transition to becoming a public company. The discipline that he has brought to our business will serve us well into the future. We wish Drew continued success and all the best.”

Stone, 51 years old, will have a salary of $500,000, as well as restricted stock units with a value of $20,000,000 and 500,000 in options, which are subject to time-based vesting.

Meanwhile, Vollero, who is formerly a Mattel executive, helped the company into a public offering along with Imran Khan. Khan is Snap’s chief strategy officer and a former Wall Street insider. When Vollero joined the company three years ago, there were only five finance team employees, who all worked on Quickbooks.

Snap shares plummeted last week after the company’s earnings reports did not meet Wall Street expectations. Since the company went public last year, Snap has taken on the battle against Facebook and has endured troubled communications with Wall Street.

Snap has already lost 24 percent of their value since they reported earnings.

“I think somebody had to take the blame for Snap’s missing numbers and there was likely frustration with both the CFO and management team,” said Jonathan Kees, who is Summit Insights Group analyst.

Snap is expected to experience a not-so-smooth transition due to the market conditions, layoffs, redesign, and senior management disruptions, according to Kees.

“I am proud of all that the finance department has accomplished leading up to the IPO and work done to streamline the company,” Vollero said in a statement. “The financial strategies we have in place are gaining traction to grow margins, flatten costs, and reduce cash burn, and we have a talented finance team that can execute well.”

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